Enthnographer + qualitative researcher

Monday, October 25, 2021 Mona Chalabi: I was sitting in a dentist’s chair in Brooklyn, there for a routine checkup. The dentist took some X-rays, poked around in my mouth, and said: “You’re in luck! No cavities. Healthy teeth. But, your teeth are a bit yellow… You could consider bleaching as an option, if it’s something that bothers you.” Now ...

ReThinking with Adam Grant Satya Nadella is building the future May 24, 2022 [Theme Music] [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey WorkLifers, it’s Adam Grant. Welcome back to Taken for Granted, my podcast with the TED Audio Collective. I’m an organizational psychologist. My job is to think again about how we work, lead, and live. Today, my guest is Satya...

Since we know TED speakers love to read, we asked them: What book could you not stop reading? Here are their eclectic picks, ready for sticking in your carry-on or for gifting. If you want to be transported to another place and time The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood This novel is set in the near future and tells a horrifying story of a...

Here's a list of specific steps you can take, as recommended by members of the TED community. Educate Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's New York Times bestseller How to Be an Antiracist is one of the most important books I've ever read. (Watch Dr. Kendi speak on "how to build an antiracist world" here.) He provides an empowering lens and language to unders...

The TED Interview Juliet Schor wants a four-day work week August 4, 2022 [00:00:00] Steven Johnson: Welcome to the TED Interview. I'm Steven Johnson. One of the defining properties of a global pandemic, beyond the life and death struggles with disease itself, is the fact that it disrupts so many of the routines of everyday life. Usually, we're ...

Re:Thinking with Adam Grant Reese Witherspoon on turning impostor syndrome into confidence October 25, 2022 [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking: my podcast on the science of what makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore n...

Ethnomusicologist

WorkLife with Adam Grant Tuesday, May 3, 2021 Hey WorkLifers-- and ArmCherries. For today’s bonus episode, we have a very special guest: Dax Shepard. I’ve known Dax since 2019-- I admire his intellectual curiosity, his vulnerability, and of course his humor. I think we’re friends, although every conversation we’ve ever had has been recorded for ...

How to Be a Better Human Anne Helen Petersen on changing your relationship to work and the guardrails that can prevent burnout February 27, 2023 [00:00:00] Chris Duffy: You are listening to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. When I worked in an elementary school, I experienced so many very weird things that were very specifi...

About this event: TEDxCollegeofWilliam&Mary 2013 will feature some of the Tribe’s most passionate, wise and innovative minds sharing ideas worth spreading. We look forward to learning about the many ways William & Mary has fostered and attracted innovative individuals to its historic grounds. You don’t become “the Alma Mater of a Nation” without fanning t...

In this wryly funny talk, sociologist Harald Eia explains what some countries are doing differently and argues that capitalism and welfare states can, in fact, co-exist in harmony.

Early education is critical to children's success -- but millions of kids in the United States still don't have access to programs that prepare them to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. Enter the UPSTART Project, a plan to bring early learning into the homes of children in underserved communities, at no cost to families. Education innovator Cla...

"Climate doom-ism," or a pessimistic outlook on the future of the planet, rivals climate denialism in holding up the fight against climate change, says activist Zahra Biabani. Illuminating how hope combats inaction, she takes us inside the world of eco-friendly content on TikTok -- and shows that we all have what it takes to make real change.

Daphne Koller is enticing top universities to put their most intriguing courses online for free -- not just as a service, but as a way to research how people learn. With Coursera (cofounded by Andrew Ng), each keystroke, quiz, peer-to-peer discussion and self-graded assignment builds an unprecedented pool of data on how knowledge is processed.

In 1988, Matt Goldman co-founded Blue Man Group, an off-Broadway production that became a sensation known for its humor, blue body paint and wild stunts. The show works on the premise that certain conditions can create "aha moments" -- moments of surprise, learning and exuberance -- frequent and intentional rather than random and occasional. Now...

Does a set of data make you feel more comfortable? More successful? Then your interpretation of it is likely wrong. In a surprisingly moving talk, Susan Etlinger explains why, as we receive more and more data, we need to deepen our critical thinking skills. Because it's hard to move beyond counting things to really understanding them.

Comic books and graphic novels belong in every teacher's toolkit, says cartoonist and educator Gene Luen Yang. Set against the backdrop of his own witty, colorful drawings, Yang explores the history of comics in American education -- and reveals some unexpected insights about their potential for helping kids learn.

In the US, Black women are nearly 300 percent more likely to die as a result of childbirth than white women. Sharing appalling statistics on maternal mortality as well as her own tragic story of loss, Wanda Irving explains how racism and bias in health care minimizes and dismisses Black women's pain -- and makes a personal plea for leaders in th...

"Once upon a time in America," says professor Sajay Samuel, "going to college did not mean graduating with debt." Today, higher education has become a consumer product -- costs have skyrocketed, saddling students with a combined debt of over $1 trillion, while universities and loan companies make massive profits. Samuel proposes a radical soluti...

Fake news can sway elections, tank economies and sow discord in everyday life. Data scientist Sinan Aral demystifies how and why it spreads so quickly -- citing one of the largest studies on misinformation -- and identifies five strategies to help us unweave the tangled web between true and false.

Why do people feel so miserable and disengaged at work? Because today's businesses are increasingly and dizzyingly complex -- and traditional pillars of management are obsolete, says Yves Morieux. So, he says, it falls to individual employees to navigate the rabbit's warren of interdependencies. In this energetic talk, Morieux offers six rules f...

Yes, we all know it's the right thing to do. But Michael Kimmel makes the surprising, funny, practical case for treating men and women equally in the workplace and at home. It's not a zero-sum game, but a win-win that will result in more opportunity and more happiness for everybody.

How can we make AI that people actually want to interact with? Raphael Arar suggests we start by making art. He shares interactive projects that help AI explore complex ideas like nostalgia, intuition and conversation -- all working towards the goal of making our future technology just as much human as it is artificial.

At TED in 1998, Brenda Laurel asks: Why are all the top-selling videogames aimed at little boys? She spent two years researching the world of girls (and shares amazing interviews and photos) to create a game that girls would love.

How can we unlock the door to our own authentic sexual well-being? Sex educator Emily Nagoski suggests that the key is realizing that we are all normal, whatever our proclivities. In this playful but informative take on sex positivity, she delves into the science of sexuality to demonstrate how we can shed our insecurities and define pleasure on...

Many of us believe that we're living in a meritocracy, deserving of what we have and compassionate toward those with less. But that's not true: white people have been given a headstart and ongoing advantages due to the color of their skin, while people of color suffer from equally arbitrary disadvantages, says scholar and activist Peggy McIntosh...

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.

Columnist David Brooks unpacks new insights into human nature from the cognitive sciences -- insights with massive implications for economics and politics as well as our own self-knowledge. In a talk full of humor, he shows how you can't hope to understand humans as separate individuals making choices based on their conscious awareness.

In a friendly, high-speed presentation, Will Wright demos his newest game, Spore, which promises to dazzle users even more than his previous masterpieces.